How It All Began ModernDay
by Stream0Conchusnez
Summary: InuPapaxIzayoi - Modern-Day. How they meet: It involves the flu, bunny slippers, and a really crappy car. Rated for language.


AN: For info about the name I chose for InuPapa, see my profile.

I hope you enjoy!

The first time they met, she hadn't taken a shower, was drinking flu medicine straight from the bottle in her pajamas and bunny slippers, on her way to her beat up old car from the convenience store. Her normally onyx black and jewel shiny hair fell strait and dull, and she wore her hideously dirty and thick-rimmed glasses. No contacts, no make-up, nothing, nada, zip. She didn't care. She honestly didn't care at all that this incredible, gorgeous - man? demon? - was right in front of her at her worst. She had woken up with the flu and did not care to go looking for a man.

Still, he _was _handsome; she had to give him that. He had a tamed sort of wilderness and danger about him; the high ponytail of captured moonlight and the jagged markings on his face contrasted the worn plaid shirt and the dark, loose jeans. His face and stature was that of a model only found in the highest quality fashion magazines, but his clothes were out of _Blue-Collar Weekly_. His eyes were what gave him is entire aura of controlled wildness.

They were the purest gold she had ever seen in her life. They were the gold envied by the jewelers in the posh stores, the intensity of an eagle soaring to heights never achieved by man; they were the invigorating hunt in the moonlight, the adrenaline of the chase, the pride and adrenaline in victory.

Oh crap. She was staring at him, and he caught her. Izayoi didn't care, really, it was just troublesome. She didn't want to seem like one of those desperate girls who were open about their emotions so someone would pity them and then hopefully – What the hell was he doing sitting on the hood of her car?!

"Is there something I could do for you?" Aw, shit. Even his voice mystified her. It was deep and smooth and warm; it made her stop and listen to what he had to say.

She hated being mystified. She lost all of her ideals about life the same time she left her home. Izayoi didn't regret leaving, not at all. But, as a pampered rich girl with a short chain and a small yard, the outside world looked beautiful and free. Oh, she would take over the company once her parents died, of course, but she wanted to live first. Even if it was a pain in the frickin' _ass._

"Yes. Could you please get off of my car? It took a lot of work to make it look that crappy and I don't want you messing it up." Izayoi _tried_ to be polite, she did, but since she had the flu and felt like shit and was irritated because a really hot man saw her when she looked the most hideous, _and_ he was staring at her like a side-show freak, she didn't really have the strength to enforce her engrained habit of politeness.

"You're funny," He chuckled, tilting his head like he was trying to measure her up. "Do you always walk around so dressed up, or is this a special occasion?" Of course, he was referring to the rather obscenely large gray t-shirt and over-long men's flannel pajama bottoms she wore. Both of which achieved a level of cuteness not often seen in parking lots at four in the afternoon. Her glasses and the sunlight hid her eyes from his gaze, but he knew a beauty when he saw one.

But there was something different about her type of beauty. The beauty he was used to was a calculated one; cold, built from a team of dermatologists, personal shoppers, and at least 3 stylists. Yes, the final result was amazing to look at, but those women, his ex-wife included, did not think about anything else.

This girl, right here in front of him, however, was something else. As he watched the heat rise into her face and neck, he wondered what made him say that. He was normally very polite and only slightly flirty with women, and he never said anything without thinking it over in his head.

"Well, I wore this just in case someone like you was to show up. You see, I have a terrible over-confidence problem, so I wear this sometimes so people like you can shut me down and help me with it." Touga blinked. He voice had sarcasm slathered on it like butter on waffles, but he couldn't help but watch her mouth as she spoke. It was a very sensual mouth, she shouldn't have been allowed outside her home with it, but there was more to her than that. He watched her for a moment as she took the foul-smelling medicine in her hand and drank it straight from the bottle. Weren't women supposed to stay home and rest and have their families take care of them when they were sick? And didn't women look at labels and dosages more often than men?

She was one crazy bitch, that was for damn certain.

"Can you get off of my car, please? I wouldn't want to throw up on you or in the parking lot, so can you please let me go home and vomit in peace?" Wow, come to think of it, she looked sick as a dog.

Chuckling to himself, Touga made a split second decision.

"Well, if you'll give me your keys, I will be glad to drive you home." She reacted just like he thought she would.

"No! Pardon me for saying this, but you could be a rapist or a thief or, or, some other really bad type of person! How do I know that you won't drug me or something? There is absolutely no way that I am going to let you drive me home. Thank you, but no!" She paled very slightly and closed her eyes for a moment as if to gain control of her senses. "No, I don't want you to drive me home. And if you don't move, I will have no choice but to barf all over your pompous ass."

And with that, Izayoi wrenched the driver side door open, sloshing medicine on her shirt, and plopped down into the torn seat. Slamming the door with all of the force she could muster, she dizzily put the keys into the ignition, and, of course, a loud, grinding, gut-wrenching roar, coupled with the puff of steam coming from the hood, told Izayoi that she just might want to accept the Pompous Ass's offer.

Fighting tears, she rested her head on the steering wheel. He was staring at her, she knew it. She kept her head on her steering wheel and her vomit barely contained in her throat. She felt the breeze as the door was opened and knew Pompous Ass was about to say something.

"Come on, quit being stubborn. You should thank me for helping you out earlier with your over-confidence problem by allowing me to escort you home. My car runs perfectly, I assure you." Touga paused, thinking about the best way to put what he wanted to say. "If you don't come with me, I'll call your family to come get – "

"No. I live alone. My parents won't come to get me. I don't have any siblings, either. Just take me home, please. I shouldn't have driven anyway; I didn't drink the non-drowsy medicine." The strength in her voice was false, he knew that. She was hiding something, and didn't want anyone to know it. That was fine.

"Come on, then. If you sit here much longer, you'll throw up all over the place."

"If I move, I will throw up anyway."

"Then let me help you out of the car."

"I don't need any help."

"So you think. If you don't let me help you, I will help you without your permission."

"I don't need any help."

"So you said, but please allow me to keep my manliness factor for a little while."

"No." Izayoi was thankful for the curtain of dirty hair that kept him from seeing her slight smile. Dammit! Why did he have that effect on her?

"Hmmm… Then I suppose you leave me no other choice, miss. I shall have to force you to accept what you so desperately need."

Izayoi was trying to disguise her amused giggles at his false aristocracy when she was suddenly scooped up by two huge arms of steel like she weighed as much as a cupcake. She didn't notice before, but he was _huge_! His bicep looked to be about the same size as her thigh, and she was sure she didn't even come up to his shoulder. The hand that held her shoulder steady could easily cover her entire face, and there were long _claws (?!)_ adorning each huge finger.

When one of her slippers decided to make a run for it, he shocked her even more by easily holding her with one arm, bending down, and snatching the rogue bedroom shoe off of the pavement. He walked like she wasn't even weighing him down any at all.

"What is your name?" He was curious, after all. If he was going to help someone it would probably be best if he knew what to call them.

"Izayoi Tomongana…" She really hoped he didn't recognize her name.

"Touga of the Western Lands. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Whew. Apparently he hadn't heard of her before. The wild child heir of the largest resort company in the world, who did everything possible to piss off her parents and then ran away from home: that was her! She was definitely a lot more mature now than she was then. Finding a job, learning to work, paying bills, the sort of stuff a spoiled rich girl didn't think actually happened.

Wait… Western Lands? What about his last name? When she voiced her concern, he seemed to be less eager to discuss the subject. He finally began to explain once they got to his clean, dent-free, albeit plain, car. As he began to situate her in the passenger's side, he began to speak.

"Well, you see, I am a Dog Demon, you know of us, yes?" When she nodded, he took a deep breath and continued. "My family has been tied to the western lands more many, many years, I'm currently running the whole operation, you see."

"So… You're the Demon Lord of the Western Lands?"

"If you want to call it that." He closed the passenger door and was nearly instantly on the other side of the car. She didn't see him walk around. He just appeared over there. It was mind boggling. She didn't like being boggled.

"Well, what do you call it?"

"I call it a pain in the ass, but don't tell anyone. I'm supposed to be a narcissistic asshole of demonic proportions, who loves all the wealth and power and has had two merciless divorces." He smiled a bittersweet smile. "So you see, I have a reputation to upkeep. My son doesn't help things much. My divorce from his mother has left him angry and cold. He used to be a happy child, too. I worry that he will never allow himself to care for anyone other than himself."

As he started the car, he pondered why he suddenly felt the urge to tell her all these intimate things about himself. There was no excuse for it, he just opened his mouth and the words came out. But now he had let her know exactly how much older than her he was. In actual years on this earth, he was 203. But in his body's natural aging process, he was probably about 33. She couldn't be any older than 24. Maybe she was younger, he didn't know, and didn't know if he wanted to know.

"So… exactly how old are you?" Well, he should've seen that coming.

"In actual years on this earth or how old my body is?" She blinked.

"Both…?" He sighed. Well, he generally held lying in contempt, and he didn't want to change his policy now.

"Two hundred and three years old. But my body is that of a thirty-three year old human." He paused, knowing this was rude question, and was surprised that he didn't really care. "How old are you, miss? If you don't mind me asking…" She paused for a moment, probably weighing whether to tell him her age.

"I'm twenty." Wow. She _was_ a lot younger than him. This complicated things… Wait, what _things_?! There were no _things_ to complicate. The only thing they shared was a no_thing_.

"Oh. Are you sure you should be living alone? It's very dangerous for a little woman like yourself to not have anyone around."

"I can take care of myself."

"But not your car."

"It does this periodically. If you unhook the battery and kick directly in front of the left wheel it will work like new tomorrow." She sounded irritated and sick. More sick than irritated though.

"Ah. Then why didn't you do that earlier?"

"Because you picked me up before I had a chance to." Irritated level was catching up to sick level…

"And why did I have to pick you up?" He had to force himself not to smile.

"Because you're a pompous ass who doesn't know how to take no for an answer." There we go! That was what he was waiting for! He didn't know why he wanted to make her mad, but it was fun, so he didn't care to question it.

"And why did I have to resort to being a pompous ass?" Oh, this was getting really fun. But he needed to end this conversation before he could get the directions to her home.

"Because you felt like sticking your nose into my business." He was really starting to piss her off.

"And I had to stick my nose into your business because you were sick and should not have been driving. Therefore I had the glorious opportunity to exude my manliness and chivalry by helping you, a damsel in distress. So we both win. You don't die in a car accident, and I get to look like the wonderful and amazing hero I am." Izayoi couldn't help it, she laughed outright at his facetiousness.

"For someone who is two hundred years old, you are totally immature! My apartment is just down the road from here on the left. I wouldn't have gotten into a car accident, the medicine hasn't even kicked in yet. The only reason I drove here was because I couldn't walk well! I don't need your help!"

"Of course you don't. It will be deleted from the permanent record, I assure you. No one shall know the great indignity you suffered by being forced to accept the help of one of the most gorgeous beings in the county. I'm sure they all feel sorry for you." He liked being this way with her. He was tired of the formality of his own house, and being able to annoy the ever-living shit out of someone was a rare treat to him.

"Oh, step on it, Pompous Ass." She snapped. "And don't even think I'm letting you take care of me."

"Well, you'll be glad to know that it hadn't crossed my mind until you mentioned it just now. Thank you for your ideas, Miss Izayoi of the Convenience Store Parking Lot."

Something in Izayoi snapped, and she unleashed a string of curse words typically reserved for dingy bars full of sailors as Touga's safe steel box purred quietly down the road.

Neither of them knew the child, the love, or the home they would share in the near future. But at that moment, neither of them could remember ever being happier or more comfortable around anyone else in their whole lives.

Touga was taken from his only love by an assassin against their marriage. Izayoi was strong and raised both Touga's first son and her own son as best she could, but she was never to be truly happy and complete again. Those who knew her said that it was a mercy the car accident happened when it did.

Her son with Touga, like both his father and his mother, grew up defying everything he could, and, also like his parents, found love and understanding in another's heart at the most perfect time in his life.

It was one great, continuing circle of love, sadness, triumph, and defeat; It was life, and it would continue on for generations and generations to come.

AN: not sure how I like the ending, but you know, when it's 1:00AM and you have to wake up for work in about... 3 hours...

Please review!!!


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